


the crystal chaser

by jenhyung



Series: clichéd: magic edition [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Drama, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 13:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13412022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenhyung/pseuds/jenhyung
Summary: Renjun has to deal with love potions, tea leaf readings, and the smell of throw up. – Renjun / Jeno (Harry Potter!AU)





	the crystal chaser

**Author's Note:**

> 17k+ of i was halfway through this before i realised i couldn't write a love potion au, so here you go, something that just... sucks... sorry for being a let down... warnings of bad writings, plot holes, bad pace, in general just terrible writing (kissing) i couldn't reread this... not beta-ed, not good
> 
> ages are shifted up: 5th years (19) / 4th years (18) and so on!
> 
> (occurs three years after '[the ticking clock](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12539684)' and '[the emerald napkin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13411653)')
> 
>  **briefly edited:** 17 aug 2018

The sound of shoes against the paved tiles comes first, hurried.

Then, the impact of someone slamming into Renjun’s chest.

He’s stunned into silence when the blonde haired Ravenclaw clings onto his bookbag, very obviously in pain and suffering from a gut-wrenching sickness. The boy tries to back out of Renjun’s grasp, but it only makes for a better aim when he heaves noisily, throwing up all over their robes and shoes.

Oh. Wow.

Breathing through his mouth, Renjun turns away to avoid the rancid smell, still holding the other up by the arms. He’s panting quite heavily, breathing ragged, and coughing out a ridiculous amount of orange spew. Renjun’s arms are definitely going to bruise, what with the boy’s fingers clutched around him so rigidly.

This is not how he’d expected the Tuesday afternoon to go.

“ – my god,” the boy hacks. His shoulders are trembling as he looks up, and the sight of Renjun seems to draw even more life out of him. “Oh my _god_ – I am _so_ sorry – I – ”

“It’s okay,” Renjun says stiffly, forcing his lunch of battered fish and chips back down his throat. At this rate, he’s going to be sick too. For such a surprise, Renjun pats himself on the back for remaining calm enough to think through the stench. “Let’s just get you to the infirmary.”

The boy tries to speak again, but his hand flies up to smack against his lips, stifling what Renjun assumes to be another wave of nausea.

_Okay, time to hurry._

While the Ravenclaw is certainly taller than Renjun, he didn’t quite look to be _that_ much heavier. It takes a lot of effort, however, but Renjun manages to haul him to the Hospital Wing, sighing in relief when they catch sight of Madam Kwon rushing towards them.

She fires questions immediately, taking him out of Renjun’s arms, and Renjun does his best to answer them, deliberately ignoring the ick-factor all over his robes. Madam Kwon leaves the Ravenclaw by the nearest cot to the door, and, at the sight of Renjun’s obvious discomfort, easily spells both their robes clean. She conjures a cup of hot water for Renjun without pause, telling him that it would do him some good. Moving expertly, she leaves them only to return with some sort of antidote.

“What classes are you having now, Mr. Huang?” Madam Kwon turns to Renjun once she’s done fussing over the blonde whining pathetically in the hospital bed. She probably recognises him from all the times he’s brought Jaemin to the infirmary after Quidditch practices.

Though, he’s a little distracted to be answering her.

Now that the Ravenclaw’s not hunched over, Renjun recognizes the round, deep-set eyes and sharp nose belonging to a certain Lee Jeno.

With only fifteen students in each house a year, it’s not difficult knowing every single student that shared the same age.

He’s seen Jeno around a couple of times over the past term, having classes with the other fourth year Ravenclaws in Potions, Transfiguration, and Muggle Studies. Renjun recalls that he was one of Jaemin and Donghyuck’s classmates from their Student Support Scheme back in first year too, but he’s never personally had any sort of interaction with Jeno.

Madam Kwon clears her throat.

Renjun answers, belatedly, “Divination.”

Silently, he thanks Jeno for taking up some of his afternoon. Renjun can’t deny that he’s secretly ecstatic at having missed the first half hour of class. Tasseography (or simply _tea leaf reading_ ) is an easy unit, but he’s going to _lose_ it if he has to listen to Hufflepuff’s Yoon Sanha predict that cicadas will one day take reign over the universe. Again.

“I’ll send a note to Professor Lee about your lateness,” Madam Kwon tuts when Jeno refuses to drink the murky green medication. He gags again, and Madam Kwon sighs loudly, brandishing a metal bucket for him. “A point to Gryffindor for your help,” she awards, one hand on Jeno’s shoulder, the other motioning for Renjun to run along to class.

Renjun gives paled Jeno a worried glance before leaving, hurrying towards the North Tower where today’s Divination lessons are being held. The note arrives with him, just as he steps through the door, and Professor Lee waves Renjun into class, excusing him with a curt nod. A girl in the back is reading aloud from their textbook, and Renjun slinks across the room to find his way to Na Jaemin, best friend and one-third of The Golden Trio That Could’ve Been, sliding into the seat as quietly as he can.

“Where’d you go?” Jaemin whispers. His elbow’s propped on the tapestry-covered table, cheek in one hand, teacup in the other.

“Had to help someone to the infirmary,” Renjun mutters, quickly downing his own small cup of tea, swirling it, then staring at the remaining tea leaves. It’s scattered and meaningless, really. He flips his textbook open to a random chart, pretending to have found a suitable reading.

“Who?” Jaemin looks around the room, raising a brow curiously when he finds that no one is out of their seats.

“Mr. Na,” Professor Lee clears her throat. Renjun snickers. “Care to share your reading with the class?”

“Sure,” he intones, blatantly grabbing Renjun’s textbook and picking the first thing in sight. Renjun suppresses a laugh. Jaemin’s disdain for Divination has never been well hidden. Heck, he didn’t even own the required textbook. “It looks like a tree, so – ”

Professor Lee clucks, “What _kind_ of a tree?”

Renjun endures the itch to snort.

Jaemin shrugs, “A big tree?”

“You’re a big idiot,” Renjun whispers under his breath, straightening up when he notes Professor Lee making her way to their table by the right of the classroom.

“This isn’t a tree, Mr. Na,” Professor Lee’s bangles jingle when she grabs the teacup, studying it for herself.

“‘Dunno,” Jaemin feigns innocence. “There were leaves, so I thought – ”

“A point from Gryffindor for your inattention during lessons, and another for your insolence,” Professor Lee hands the teacup back to Jaemin. He earns a smack on the head by a fellow housemate, Park Siyeon. “What about you, Mr. Huang? Is your reading a tree too?”

Renjun turns the textbook back around, discreetly trying to make sense of the mess of leaves. On a whim, he answers, “It’s a, uh, crocus? A group of flowers?”

“Interesting, interesting,” Professor Lee hums approvingly, hovering over Renjun’s shoulder to look for herself, but she doesn’t spoon feed him the answer. “And what does that mean?”

“Uh,” Renjun’s cheeks warm up unavoidably when he reads the next column. “Partnership.”

The class choruses into a loud _oooooh!_ led by none other than Jaemin, the devil with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

“What about the placement of the leaves?” Professor Lee has no care for the bunch of fourth years making kissy faces at Renjun.

“They’re at the top,” Renjun scans across several pages, landing at the proper one with the help of Professor Lee’s pointer finger (and her impatience). “Which conveys… Denial?”

Professor Lee nods, “An intriguing reading, Mr. Huang.” She spares no attention to the giggles that’ve erupted amongst the rest of the students. What a bother. “And what about you, Mr. Yoon?”

“Okay, so, listen to this – cicadas, am I right?”

 

Jaemin wastes no time filling Minhyung, another one-third of the Golden Trio That Could’ve Been and Gryffindor’s Seeker, in over dinner, retelling the story of Renjun’s tea leaf reading which was, not only embarrassing, but also false. Renjun denies all accusations of the reading being true, brushing off Jaemin’s inquisitive stare with a bread roll impaled on his fork.

“ _Puh – lease_ ,” Jaemin stretches out the syllables to make a point, carelessly twirling at the plate of spaghetti in front of him. “That old bat saw the tea cup herself! If she thought you were making it up, she would’ve said something about it.”

“Aren’t tea leaf readings supposed to be…” Minhyung frowns, lowering the spoonful of beef stew he was intending to take. “I don’t know – shouldn’t it be what _you_ think it looks like?”

Renjun shrugs, reaching to drop a dollop of sour cream for his own bowl of stew, “It’s all a bunch of nonsense anyway, tea readings.”

“What do you mean ‘nonsense’?” Minhyung blinks. “I’m pretty sure it’s an actual thing.”

Jaemin, an avid protestor of Tasseography, decides to jump ships right then, “Of _course_ it’s an actual thing! He’s just being pissy about getting a reading about love, the anti-cupid.” At Minhyung’s gawky stare, Jaemin rolls his eyes, “Have we never discussed this? Renjun doesn’t believe love potions work either.”

Minhyung laughs, loud and unhinged, “You do know that you’re a wizard, right? Magic clearly exists.”

“Obviously,” Renjun frowns, not appreciating Jaemin and Minhyung ganging up against him. It isn’t out of the blue though; Renjun, Jaemin and Minhyung may be best friends, but ever since Jaemin’s joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team as their new Beater, Minhyung and Jaemin have come to realise that they’re on similar wavelengths when it came to things like these. Like crushes and love and kissing or whatever.

“I meant the joke ones from the Weasleys’ joke shop, not Amortentia.”

“Speaking of,” Jaemin whistles. “We’re starting the unit on Amortentia, like, next week or something. Potions.”

“Enjoy it,” Minhyung, being a year older, has already taken the mandatory classes for it.

It was how a close friend of theirs, Lee Donghyuck, had found out about the giant crush Minhyung’d secretly been harbouring; his brew smelled of grass after a rain shower, old Muggle music sheets, and Donghyuck’s _hair_. Jaemin and Renjun’d immediately recognized the description of Donghyuck’s expensive rose scented shampoo the moment they’d heard Minhyung pondering about it aloud. It’s a long story involving a lot of the same people, but the grand takeaway’s that it ended with Donghyuck agreeing to date Minhyung by the end of the previous school year.

“Professor Jung makes you reveal what you smell,” Minhyung continues with a shudder. “And if you don’t, he docks ten points mercilessly. Talk about terrifying! What if you smell someone in the room, but there was no other way to describe it?”

Renjun hadn’t an inkling what his Amortentia was going to smell like.

Well.

“Anyway,” Jaemin sighs dramatically. “I’ve spent a good portion of my life trying to convince Jun that love potions _do_ work – ”

Renjun disagrees, “They’re just placebos, there’s no way – ”

Minhyung begs to differ, “Don’t you remember what happened to Jungwoo? When Yeri accidentally slipped him one of her WonderWitch’s Crush Blush the other Slytherins were tossing around? I’ve never seen him smile so wide in my _life_. Not to mention the tiny hearts that seem to float around him wherever he went that entire week.”

“Yes, thank you for that reminder,” Jaemin grumbles, turning around to try and find his sixth year boyfriend at the Hufflepuff table. He waves when Jungwoo looks up, sending a bright grin Jaemin’s way before returning his attention to the girl beside him. Jaemin turns back around, looking smitten. “He’d gotten so mad at me for being mad! How could I _not_ be angry when he was drooling all over her, honestly!”

“You’re lucky that Ravenclaw friend of Donghyuck’s had that antidote,” Minhyung scoffs. “That loud proclamation of love during the final Quidditch game had all of us thinking _you_ were the one who drank the Crush Blush.”

“Grabbing the mic from Boo Seungkwan was a terrible idea,” Renjun pipes up, remembering how he’d thought Jaemin was going to crash into the announcer’s booth when he was really just aiming for the microphone to yell about how beautiful Jungwoo was. Which was, while not untrue, extremely distracting, and announcing it mid-game was not a good time for that. “I can’t believe Professor Kim took twenty points for that.”

“I can’t believe he didn’t take _fifty_ points for that,” Minhyung adds.

“Hel – _lo_ ,” Jaemin’s ears are redder than the crest on his chest. “We’re talking about Renjun and his hatred for love, not my love for my boyfriend, might I reiterate.”

Renjun nearly swallows the cubed beef whole, “I don’t _hate_ love, Na, that’s a bit much.” He grabs another bread roll and a square of butter, “Not believing in readings and manufactured love potions has no relation to my – ” Renjun admits begrudgingly, “lack of love life.”

Whose fault is it that everyone around him seems to already have someone with them? Even Jaemin, the most sardonic person he’s ever met, enough to rival Donghyuck, had managed to score Jungwoo, the sweetest Hufflepuff Renjun’s ever met.

“You’ve never had a crush?” Minhyung sounds a lot more incredulous that he looks. “At all?”

“Not really,” Renjun mutters, neck growing hot. Why were they even _having_ this conversation? “I don’t know, I need a sign or something.”

“You’re just oblivious,” Jaemin deadpans. “In third year, that one Slytherin girl had _the_ biggest crush on you and you thought she just really needed help in Transfigurations! I mean, c’mon, Jun, you wouldn’t be able to see the sign even if there were fifteen other signs leading up to the giant, neon billboard!”

“Whatever,” Renjun says defensively, pushing the thought of Hwang Jiwon off his mind. He’d only realized that she didn’t actually need help when he’d fumbled over turning a teapot into a tortoise and she’d gotten frustrated that he couldn’t accomplish such a simple spell. “Who declared that being alone was a bad thing? Maybe I want to live alone with two cats, nothing wrong with that.”

Jaemin sniffs, “I’m not asking you to find the love of your life at eighteen, idiot. I’m just saying that you couldn’t recognize being crushed on even if they hit you with it like a Bludger gone rogue.”

Renjun knows just as much, despite what Jaemin might think. It wasn’t like he was _avoiding_ trying to find someone. Whoever it is that’s deciding that Renjun’s love life be barren obviously couldn’t care less about surrounding him with happy couples. Watching Jungwoo run up to Jaemin after a match or hearing Donghyuck break curfew to sneak off to find Minhyung in the Gryffindor Tower has had him feeling a little jealous, naturally.

He just didn’t know what to _do,_ how was he supposed to know? Is it instinct? Shouldn’t there be a handbook with guidelines he can follow? Renjun’s heard many tales of eyes locking across the Great Hall, or taps on the shoulder in Potions, or getting thoroughly distracted while flying during Quidditch, or whatever it is that births an unprecedented crush.

How was he supposed to get himself one of those? Who did he have to ask to be given a crush?

“ – from the infirmary.”

Ah.

It’s seventh year Jung Jaehyun, the newly appointed Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Renjun’s recognized the Chaser from watching Jaemin and Minhyung during Quidditch practices, and he nods politely when Jaehyun smiles in acknowledgement. He’s always been friendly, even with Renjun, who wasn’t on the Quidditch team, and he seemed to look a lot more alive than he did the last time Renjun saw him.

Minhyung’s mentioned in passing once that the new Quidditch Captain was going through some kind of an emotional rut during the first few months of this school year. It was only later that the team realised it was a result of his boyfriend, Nakamoto Yuta, graduating a year ahead, moving into the workforce as a competent intern at the Ministry of Magic. Renjun didn’t quite understand it, but Jaemin and Minhyung empathized with him wholeheartedly.

“What did he want?” Renjun asks, having missed the conversation while being distracted by the slew of his own thoughts.

“The first-aid stash in the Common Room is running low on bandages and iodine powder,” Minhyung says, finishing up his dinner. “We’ve been having extra practices since the first match with Slytherin’s in a couple of weeks, and Jaehyun wants us prepared if the Chasers’ callouses worsen.”

“Wonder if Madam Kwon will spare us the bandages,” Jaemin licks his fork clean, exhaling loudly as he gets up. Renjun and Minhyung follow suit. “She’s always so stingy with them.”

“C’mon,” Minhyung slings his bookbag over his shoulder. “I promised Donghyuck I’d meet him after dinner, and I don’t want to be late.”

“Cute,” Jaemin rolls his eyes, not quite grasping the irony of it when he rushes over to the Hufflepuff table to kiss Jungwoo goodbye.

 

Renjun only remembers the afternoon’s events when the three of them amble past the corridor where he’d been standing with Jeno just mere several hours ago. Tuning out Minhyung and Jaemin’s conversation on the new batch of Quidditch players this year, he distantly wonders if Jeno was still in the infirmary, though he very much doubted it; Madam Kwon was known to send students back to their own rooms immediately, preferring empty cots than otherwise.

A flip is switched the moment they step into the infirmary, Jaemin’s voice sickly sweet and Minhyung’s respectfully polite as they try and corner Madam Kwon into supplying them with more medicinal aid than a Quidditch team should normally be allowed to receive. Renjun parts from their triangle of three to peer past the curtain of the first cot, purely out of curiosity, hiding his surprise when he finds that, yes, the Ravenclaw is still here.

Jeno looks a lot better now. The colour has returned to his face, and his hair is no longer matted to his forehead (though now it looks a lot like the end of a broomstick, sticking out in all directions). He has a plate of tonight’s spaghetti in his hands, stiffening and pausing mid-chew when he catches the sight of Renjun awkwardly hovering behind the curtain.

_Ah._

“Sorry,” Renjun blurts out, wishing that he could curl into a ball. “I, uh – are you feeling better?”

Jeno chews quickly, gulping the mouthful of noodles, “ – ah, yeah, I’m totally fine!”

Renjun nods slowly. He didn’t really think this through, “Okay, cool. I was just, uh, wondering.”

“Did you – ” Jeno hugs the plate close to his chest, tomato sauce staining the white blanket over him. “Did you come here looking for me?”

“Uh, not really,” Renjun answers honestly. The speck of dirt on the wall just above Jeno’s bird nest-like hair seems a lot more interesting than anything he’s ever seen.

“Oh.” Jeno says, a little dazed.

Alright, maybe that was a little rude.

“I mean – ”

Renjun’s promptly interrupted by the sound of Jaemin's obnoxious laughter ringing in his ear, “Lee Jeno!” Jaemin leans against Renjun, who stumbles against the weight. “This is who you brought to the infirmary, I assume?”

“Why’re you in here?” Minhyung asks, moving forward to pat Jeno on the shoulder, eyeing him from head to toe.

“I was sick,” Jeno answers with a guilty laugh.

Minhyung turns to Renjun, “How’d you get roped into this?”

“He threw up all over me,” Renjun supplies helpfully, biting back a grin when Jeno stares at him, scandalized.

“Sorry!” Jeno groans, looking truly apologetic. “I didn’t know I was going to run into someone,” he deflates.

“It’s alright,” Renjun says easily. It wasn’t a big deal anyway, he’d mostly forgotten about it. Mostly. “At least you’re doing better now.”

“Yeah,” Jeno averts his eyes. Renjun doesn’t know what to make of it. “A lot better.”

Jaemin perks up, “Why hasn’t Madam K sent you back yet?”

“Er,” the Ravenclaw stares at the plate in his hands, seemingly shy at the three pairs of eyes studying him so intently. “She couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so she wanted to keep me until tonight.”

“Glad you’re doing better,” Minhyung says. “We’ve that joint Quidditch practice tomorrow evening, wouldn’t want the Ravenclaws down a Seeker.”

Renjun didn’t know Jeno played Quidditch. Frankly, he didn’t know much about Jeno.

“Don’t you worry about it,” Jeno smiles broadly, a twinkle in his eye when he tilts to look up at Minhyung. “I’ll definitely be there to beat you to the Snitch.”

Minhyung laughs, “We’ll see about that, huh.”

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Jaemin interjects, still slumping against Renjun lazily. It’s amusing, for the most part. Jaemin would never do this around Jungwoo; he may not look it, but the Hufflepuff was ridiculously possessive over Jaemin, making it easy for Renjun to tease whenever they all hung out together. That was pretty much his role in their group of five. “It’s near eight. Donghyuck’s going to crack someone’s neck if you’re not waiting in the Courtyard by the time he gets there.”

That was amusing too, how Minhyung never failed to smile at the mention of his boyfriend. Renjun tacks a mental note to tease them for it too.

“Thanks for coming by,” Jeno calls, waving meekly at the three of them as they file out, bidding goodbyes and thanking Madam Kwon for the extra first-aid supplies. Renjun slots himself between Minhyung and Jaemin, listening to them go on about the Quidditch plays.

 

x

 

Something’s bugging Renjun.

He doesn’t know what it is either, but it feels like an itch he can’t reach, can’t scratch.

The weekend is spent squished between Minhyung and Donghyuck cuddling on his right, and Jaemin and Jungwoo snuggling on his left, leaving Renjun with his a cup of Earl Grey in the middle of Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. Not that it wasn’t fun, it’s always fun when they all get together, but Renjun’s just about done listening to Jaemin coo about Jungwoo’s nose or Donghyuck lovingly berate Minhyung for picking up _both_ Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

So, when Jeno says hello to him on Monday morning, it’s more than just a breath of fresh air. Not literally because thirty students are shoved into the Potions Dungeon for an early lesson of _double_ Potions, but it’s still nice to talk to someone that didn’t involve them kissing their boyfriends every two minutes or so.

“Hi,” Renjun smiles cordially, moving his bookbag aside when Jeno takes the seat beside him. It was reserved for Jaemin, but Renjun thinks he could do two hours without Jaemin going on about how he had no idea what to do for Jungwoo’s birthday. He’d even thought of conjuring a Jaemin-scented candle for Jungwoo, to which Renjun veto-ed, citing that it was one of the worst gift ideas he’s ever heard. Ever.

“So…” Jeno settles in his seat, hugging his standard size two Pewter Cauldron close to his chest. Renjun notes that he seemed to enjoy doing that a lot. He also notes that Jeno smells a lot better than he did the other day. Well, obviously. “About me, uh – ruining your robes the other day…”

Renjun hums, turning away to pull his textbook from his bag, showing that he was still listening.

“I want to make it up to you.”

 _This again?_ Renjun thinks, leaving the textbook by his own cauldron, “You really don’t have to.” Jeno juts out his lower lip. Renjun blinks when his breath catches at the sight of peach pink, “You didn’t _know_ you were going to be sick, there’s really nothing to make up for, it’s fine, Jeno.”

Jeno appears to contemplate over it, staring almost desolately into his empty cauldron. The sight of it makes Renjun’s heart do star jumps. Why did Jeno feel so bad about it?

The question is forgotten when Jaemin bursts into class, hair mussed and scarlet tie crooked, very clearly just having come from a make out session with Jungwoo in one of the castle’s many broom cupboards. As per usual.

“Hey,” he says breathlessly, running a hand through his hair, sidling up to Renjun. “You didn’t save me a seat?”

“Thought I’d sit with my new friend Jeno today,” Renjun reaches over to squeeze Jeno by the shoulder, making a show of his newfound friend. He pulls away when Jeno so visibly startles under his touch. Alright, then. “Since you were off gallivanting with that boyfriend of yours.”

Jaemin snorts, shrugging and taking the seat belonging to the bench the next aisle over, “Jealous, Huang?”

“Maybe in another universe, Na,” Renjun quips, scowling when Jaemin laughs in disbelief.

Professor Jung graces the dungeon with his presence then, effectively ending every single conversation within the class. Renjun leans against the table as Professor Jung begins his lesson,

“Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world.”

_Right._

It’d completely slipped his mind that they were starting the unit today. On his right, Renjun hears Jaemin snicker under his breath.

Professor Jung drones about the characteristics of it, its effects, consequences, uses. He highlights the fact that while Amortentia cannot replicate true love, it does well to imitate the feeling of it. There are choruses of _ooh_ s and _ahh_ s as he introduces the lesson plan to them; they weren’t doing any brewing of their own Amortentia today, as it would be left for next Monday’s double Potions.

It’s nearly an hour and a half of theory on the history of the love potion when Professor Jung finally claps his hands together, startling students who were on the edge of falling asleep (Renjun and Jaemin included),

“I think everyone’s interested in what _their_ Amortentia would smell like, no?”

A buzz of agreement is heard, some more pleased than others.

Renjun doesn’t find himself in the majority, growing restless instead.

Professor Jung isn’t perturbed by the lack of enthusiastic participation, “Well, then, I’ve brewed enough for three students! Those picked shall reveal the scents of their Amortentia,” he raises his voice when several students murmur their disapproval. It was only natural. Amortentia revealed the smells of what attracts a certain individual and, often more than not, one of the smells was going to be something related to someone they were interested in. (In Minhyung’s case, Donghyuck’s hair; in Jungwoo’s case, Jaemin’s.) “Failure to do so will result in the deduction of ten house points.”

It’s eerily silent. Renjun looks down at his feet, not wanting to accidentally make eye contact with the crafty Potions Master. Minhyung was right; smelling Amortentia and not knowing what it could possibly belong to was, indeed, terrifying.

Beside him, Jaemin doesn’t look too worried. On his left, Jeno has his hands laced tightly under the table.

Renjun arches a brow, _He must know what his Amortentia will smell like._

Professor Jung scans the room for his first prey –

“Why don’t we have Mr. Kim, by the front? Take a cup and share with the class.”

Renjun breathes a sigh of relief when the red-head saunters to the front, taking the cup easily.

Kim Jeongmin’s Amortentia consists of the smell of his own bed, of pecan pie, and of summer mornings.

“And Ms. Jung, how about you?”

Two down, Renjun prays he won’t be called.

Jung Hyeyeon’s Amortentia consists of the smell of nail polish, of incense, and of vinyl records.

Professor Jung’s eyes scan the last row, and Renjun holds his breath,

“And what about Mr. Lee, at the back? Make your way up for our final cup of Amortentia.”

He exhales, but why does it feel like _he's_  the one being called?

Jeno slides off his seat slowly, walking hesitantly towards the last goblet of Amortentia, and Renjun’s heart pounds with every step he takes. What gives? Better Jeno than himself, right?

Lee Jeno’s Amortentia consists of the smell of chocolate gateau, the air high above the Quidditch Pitch, and –

“Uh,” he fumbles, taking another whiff of the potion in his hands. Renjun tilts forward, interest piqued. Professor Jung looks on expectantly. Jeno shakes his head, “I don’t know what smell this is.”

Professor Jung narrows his eyes, “You don’t _know_?”

Jeno’s eyes dart across the classroom, passing Renjun by the back flittingly. It lands on a girl by the second row for a brief moment, then back at the cup in his hands.

_Oh?_

“Er, no.”

Renjun holds back a laugh. New thing he’s learnt about Jeno? The boy can’t seem to lie well.

“Is that ten points from Ravenclaw then?” Professor Jung taunts, looking a lot like a fellow student than an actual professor.

Jeno nods dishonourably, causing a hush of whispers to explode through the dungeon.

It _must’ve_ smelled like someone then, and it must’ve been someone in the room, or at least, someone they were all familiar with. Regardless, it must be plenty embarrassing, Renjun supposes.

“Ten points!” He hears Hwang Hyunjin, a Ravenclaw two benches away, groan. “Didn’t Seyoon get fifty points docked for sneaking out last night?”

Another Ravenclaw, Yoon Jinhyung, replies spiritlessly, “We’re never going to win the House Cup at this rate!”

“Hey,” Renjun says softly when Jeno returns to their bench, sinking into his seat sadly. It was bad enough that Jeno had to go up there and reveal the three – well, two, in his case – things that attracted him. What a way to kick a boy when he was down. “Don’t listen to them, it’s only ten points.”

Jeno is quiet, flipping through his textbook listlessly without sparing Renjun a glance.

It’s awkward. Renjun tries to get Jeno to ease up by reassuring him that if _he_ had to go up there, he probably wouldn’t know what his Amortentia smelled like either. Jeno remains silent, eyes glued to the content page of his textbook.

Unreasonably irked, Renjun tries to focus on Professor Jung at the head of the class, barely taking in any information regarding next week’s practical.

The final twenty minutes of Potions is spent writing down the ingredients needed for Amortentia, the specifics and the preparations that have to be made. All throughout, a peculiar fizz of static floats around Renjun, prickling at his fingers and irritating the back of his neck.

Class is called for dismissal just as Renjun thinks he can’t take this odd feeling hammering against his heart any longer, and he packs up hastily, urgently wishing he could teleport straight to the Great Hall for lunch.

“Hey,” comes Jeno from beside him.

Renjun pauses from shoving the bulky slab of a Potions textbook into his bookbag, unaware that Jeno was interested in speaking with him.

He thought he’d said something wrong.

Jeno tucks his cauldron snug under his arm, shifting his weight from foot to foot, “Sorry, about that – I just – ”

“It’s okay,” Renjun hitches his bookbag up a shoulder. He feels a headache coming along, “I get it, it’s like a private thing, I wasn’t expecting you to tell me who it smelled like or anything.”

“Actually, it’s, uh – ”

Jaemin edges up behind Renjun, and the curiosity radiating through his pores is anything but subtle. Jeno casts his eyes across the room, and both Renjun and Jaemin turn to look. Renjun doesn’t see anyone standing by that corner of the room, not the girl from earlier either.

“It’s nothing,” Jeno says, regaining Renjun’s attention. “I just – uh, so, we’re cool, right?”

Renjun doesn’t think much of it, “Yeah. Yeah, we’re cool.”

 

The school week doesn’t differ much from any Renjun’s ever had.

Tuesday remains unaffected.

On Wednesday, Renjun hears of Donghyuck breaking a million rules just to find Minhyung and cuddle in his boyfriend’s bed. Something about Minhyung’s pillows lulling him to sleep, about Minhyung’s arms around his waist, about Minhyung’s legs tangled with his. Renjun tunes out after that.

Thursday morning is when he’s told that Donghyuck’d gotten caught by one of Minhyung’s roommates, Park Jihoon. His silence was later bought with a copy of Lee Taeyong’s legendary Herbology notes, which were famous for being so accurate and precise with Herbology terms and facts that no one, but he, was able to catch; yet, infamous for being difficult to acquire. Minhyung had fortunately gotten them from Jaehyun, who’d gotten them from his boyfriend’s best friend, Kim Doyoung.

Thursday afternoon is when he’s informed that Jaemin has figured that he was going to gift Jungwoo with – a box of brand new quills and a tub of ink, since the other was always going through his quick. Also, a new tube of spearmint toothpaste, for whatever reason. With a reward of two Galleons, Renjun agrees to follow Jaemin down to Scrivenshaft’s the coming weekend, under the guise of purchasing several pairs of lurid socks from Gladrags Wizardwear.

Thursday night is when Renjun reassures himself that nothing is different.

If only he could discredit a new pair of eyes following him wherever he goes, that is.

Jeno.

Smiling at Renjun from the Ravenclaw table during breakfast on Tuesday morning, catching Renjun in the halls when they’re moving from class to class on Wednesday afternoon, waving at Renjun when he crosses the Courtyard on Thursday night.

Renjun doesn’t know what to make of it. He doesn’t know if he appreciates the way his palms start to sweat or the way it catches his breath when he notices the hint of blonde hair and sapphire robes before it disappears into the shadows again. He doesn’t know if it’s normal that his eyes start to search for the perfect combination in the sea of students in the Great Hall, if it’s normal that he has to bite back a smile when he does, if it’s normal that his cheeks are _flaming_ by the time he gets to look away.

Friday, at dinner, is when a situation is brought up that thankfully distracts Renjun from this new, mild invasion of privacy. (Not that he minds, at least, not really.)

“Donghyuck’s mad at me,” Minhyung wails morosely, stabbing at a chicken wing.

“Why?” Renjun asks, without much curiosity. He had an inkling that it might’ve to do with Minhyung being three hours late to their afternoon date today. It was hard not to know when Donghyuck’s inane screaming could be heard all the way across three classrooms and the boys' bathroom on the second floor.

“I forgot!” Minhyung groans. “He waited for me by the Courtyard.”

“Ooh,” Renjun cringes. It was cold out today.

“He was covered in snow.”

“Heard he found you all cosy in the library,” Jaemin is apathetic. “You’re an idiot.”

Minhyung nods solemnly, “So I’ve been told.”

“How mad is he?” Renjun dares to wonder.

“Very, obviously,” Jaemin clicks his tongue. “You know how Donghyuck gets, I mean, you can’t think that – okay, seriously, look at him!”

Minhyung twists in his seat, and Renjun looks too, finding Donghyuck positively _fuming_ at the Slytherin table, steam near whistling from his ears. Jungwoo is right there beside him, a comforting hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder,

Before Renjun can look away, not at all because he was _looking_ , he spots Jeno staring at him from not very far away, lighting up when their gazes meet. He raises a hand to give Renjun another one of his tiny waves, and Renjun smiles back, nodding too.

Oh, Renjun’s _heart_. Is it still beating?

“He’ll have to forgive you sooner or later,” Renjun tries to pacify the situation, attention back to the current situation at hand. Not the Ravenclaw two tables away.

Jaemin is no help, “Don’t bet on it.” Minhyung so near whines, “Jungwoo told me that your boyfriend’s going to be brewing one of his luck potions for the _entire_ Slytherin Quidditch team for our match next Tuesday.”

Minhyung thunks his head heavily against the table. Renjun is immediately a lot more pitiful.

A year back when they’d first started dating, Minhyung’d prepared a special surprise for the both of them leading up to their first _monthsary_ , going so far as to treat the Slytherin coldly as a dumb prank. It forced Donghyuck into a manic state of confusion, going up to both Renjun and Jaemin, clueless as to what he could’ve done wrong. He was really starting to like Minhyung by that point, and neither Renjun nor Jaemin had it in them to throw Minhyung under the bus, no matter how proverbial.

It was accidentally blown out of proportion when Donghyuck had come anxiously into the Gryffindor Common Room, in search of his new boyfriend, only to find him huddled with second year’s Jeon Somi over a stack of Transfigurations notes. Donghyuck’d left the Gryffindor Tower without a word immediately, going a week without speaking to Minhyung. After, during that year’s Gryffindor versus Slytherin inter-House Quidditch match, Donghyuck had brazenly given Seeker Jung Chanwoo a concoction of his special brew, enabling the new Seeker in catching the Golden Snitch when they were only ten minutes in.

There was no punishment awarded, seeing as how no one was able to prove Donghyuck’s assistance in the win (despite Jaemin and Seokmin’s adamant calls for foul play).

Though, the pat on the back Donghyuck’d received from Professor Jung, the Potions Master and the Head of Slytherin House, was incredibly telling.

“Which is why,” Jaemin goes on to say, flicking Minhyung’s ear. He groans lifelessly. “We’re going down to Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes tomorrow too.”

After the revolution, Zonko’s was renovated into an outlet for the ever popular Weasleys’ joke shop, stocked to the brim with just as many products, with a variety just as wide as the one in Diagon Alley.

“What for?” Renjun taps his foot against the table leg when a blur of blonde is within his vision. He feels awfully embarrassed when he succumbs to the urge and looks, realizing that it isn’t who he thought it to be but just another Ravenclaw with equally bright hair.

 _Stop that_.

“Formed Fortuity.” Jaemin explains when Renjun blinks twice, “It’s like a diluted version of Liquid Luck.”

Renjun isn’t sure about the exact rules of Quidditch, but, “Isn’t that kind of… deceitful?”

“Not when Donghyuck’s essentially giving the entire Slytherin team a golden ticket each!” Jaemin scoffs, looking almost offended at Renjun’s lack of House loyalty. “Jung Chanwoo found the Snitch before this – ” he jabs a finger into Minhyung’s shoulder, eliciting an uninterested groan “ – big sack of potatoes did! It was his _first_ game as a Seeker, Jun, think of how our Chasers are going to do if he gives Captain Kim the lucky brew? Our heads will be off the moment Prof. Kim blows into his teeny whistle!”

Minhyung sits up lethargically, “I’ve to agree with Na on this.” He closes his eyes, “Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. Kim Yugyeom’s Bludgers are crazy enough _without_ the extra luck.”

“What about, uh, I don’t know,” Renjun clears this throat. “Sportsmanship?”

“Tell that to Hyuck!” Jaemin tuts. “Forget that! I don’t want to hear Jaehyun grumbling about how much of a hard time he’s having with that old Captain from three years ago breathing down his neck. If we lose the House Cup again this year, we’d never hear the end of it from that guy.”

“Youngho,” Minhyung supplies the name helpfully. “Anyway,” he sighs, the most Renjun’s heard anyone ever sigh. “We’re just getting them if Donghyuck _does_ end up giving his brew to the team… I’ll try and talk him out of it later, if he’ll even see me.”

Jaemin pokes him again, harder, “You’d better… I still have that one bruise from when Gu June whacked that Bludger to my face for aiming one at Chanwoo. I’d prefer to have my head attached to the rest of me by the end of the game, please.”

“Isn’t this considered cheating?” Renjun’s never been one to break the school rules. It just wasn’t his thing.

“Not if we don’t get caught,” Jaemin drawls. Minhyung nods in accordance.

“That’s really reassuring to hear, you guys.”

 

Hogsmeade on the weekends is always busy.

Thankfully, Renjun, Jaemin and Minhyung don’t attract much attention when they enter the Weasleys’ joke shop, blending in easily with the mass of other students. While Jaemin and Minhyung make a beeline for the row of darker products by the back of the shop, Renjun hangs around the impractical joke section instead, unwilling to be a part of their little scheme.

As much as he loved his best friends, he wasn’t about to get detention over this. Cleaning owl crap off the hundreds of owl cubbies in the Owlery sounded like a horrendous way to spend his weekends.

He wanders around aimlessly, nothing on the shelves (Portable Swamps, Skiving Snackboxes) were particularly interesting to him until – the WonderWitch display.

It’s very large, and very tall, and _very_ pink. Rows and rows of love potions and cosmetics goods stacked neatly while puffs of pink smoke is constantly floating around the elaborate display.

A group of giggling girls surround the tower of products, making it a little hard for Renjun to approach the stand, no matter how curious. He waits around the shelves, casually picking out an Aviatomobile (that he wasn’t actually going to get), moving over to the intimidating pile of pink only when the girls move away, arms full of unknown purchases.

The assortment of love potions is the display’s main attraction. Renjun studies the labels carefully, telling himself that he was really only looking at these purely to find out what were really in them. By the third, disgustingly pink bottle, Renjun’s deduced that all of the WonderWitch’s love potions were the same brew, just packaged differently. Kissing Concoction, Beguiling Bubbles, Twilight Moonbeams; all of them were marketed to have a poor victim induced with infatuation for twenty-four hours.

Renjun frowns to himself. There must some insidious issue with compliance in there somewhere.

“I didn’t know you were interested in the likes of love potions, Huang Renjun.”

He immediately places the bottle of Twilight Moonbeams back on the shelf, neck growing hot at the appearance of fifth year and one of Slytherin’s three Chasers, Kim Yeri. She smiles up at Renjun, eyes glinting prettily under the pink hues. Renjun would’ve been a lot more intimidated by her if he didn’t know how sweet she actually was, helping him with his way when he was a lost first year and she, a confident second year.

“If you’re looking for something subtle,” she continues, scanning the tower between them until her eyes find a baby pink packet, plucking it off the higher shelves. Yeri presents it to him, holding it by the bow as Renjun squints to read the fancy looking letters printed on the top – The Crystal Chaser.

“It’s new,” she hums, nodding at Renjun to grab it.

He does, turning it over to read the back,

_New! From the already successful line of WonderWitch’s love potions, here’s one that’s unlike any other! No more messy drinks! Dissolve just ONE Crystal Chaser in your target’s goblet of pumpkin juice and they’ll be after you for the next twenty-four hours!*_

_*The Crystal Chaser works differently for every individual. Please exercise with caution._

“This is a surprise,” Yeri comments, entertained. She toys with a purple Pygmy Puff. It coos at her touch. “This seems a lot more like something Na Jaemin would do, if I’m being candid with you.”

Renjun doesn’t voice his disagreement; Jaemin, of all people, would know the foolishness in coercing someone into taking one of these faux spells. He drops the package back onto the shelf, “Just curious about it. I have no one I want to use it on anyway.”

“You don’t?” Yeri lifts a brow, picking the Pygmy Puff up and placing it gently on her shoulder. It purrs contentedly.

Blonde hair and sapphire robes.

_No._

“I don’t,” Renjun says. _What was that?_ There’s a little more bite than he intended his words to have, so he repeats, less contentiously this time, “I really don’t.”

“I’ve always wanted one of these,” Yeri ignores his hostility, busy patting the Pygmy Puff lovingly. She runs a slender finger through its fur. “Don’t get offended,” she scoffs. “Nothing wrong with a little push in the right direction.”

 _Really?_ Renjun thinks sceptically. Love potions sound like a lot more trouble than Yeri’s making them out to be.

“Though, if you ever needed one,” she’s already walking away, new pet on her shoulder, “I hear this one work’s best.”

“I said I don’t need it,” Renjun calls after her, but it’s proved moot when she ignores him, heading towards her friends waiting by the wall of joke quills.

He takes a moment to collect himself. There was no _way_ he was just thinking about using it on Jeno, or even _considering_ using it on someone.

It’s just because Renjun’s been receiving quite a bit of unwarranted attention that he doesn’t really know what to do with it all. At this point, Renjun isn’t even sure if he’s actually given the attention or if he’s just thinking things. Okay, but why would he _want_ Jeno to be attentive to him anyway? There wasn’t –

“Were you just talking to Yeri?”

Thank the heavens for Minhyung and his impeccable timing. Renjun was about to have to eat his own fist if he were kept alone with his thoughts for a second longer.

“Did she see us?” Jaemin asks, glancing around the joke shop nervously. Minhyung nudges at him to _be cool_ , but Jaemin shoots back with a, _you be cool!_

“I don’t think so,” Renjun sniffs, lifting a hand to scratch a pink Pygmy Puff behind the ear. It doesn’t seem to like him very much. “She was just talking to me about love potions.”

Jaemin scowls, but before he can say something mean about it, Minhyung echoes, “Love potions?”

“Yeah,” he picks The Crystal Chaser up, handing it to Minhyung. “Said this one works really well.”

“Huang Renjun, resident sceptic, believing the words of Kim Yeri, resident love potion enthusiast?” Jaemin mocks. “Am I in a different world right now?”

“Guess not, seeing as you’re still annoying as ever,” Renjun counters flatly, uninterested in Jaemin’s games. “These don’t _work_ , guys,” he rolls his eyes. “They’re just gags to get lonely, unsuspecting customers to buy them.”

They might not be in a different world, but Minhyung’s in a different conversation, “Think it’ll work if I use this on Donghyuck?”

Jaemin grabs the love crystals, reading the back with narrowed eyes, “Definitely. It’s basically love potion solidified.”

Renjun shakes his head in disapproval, “Hyuck’ll _kill_ you if you do that. If it works, I mean.”

“I agree to that first half,” Jaemin tosses it back to Minhyung, who catches it with ease. “These don’t make you forget what you do _under_ the spell. Bet my position on the team he’ll call it quits with you once it wears off.”

“It won’t work anyway,” Renjun snorts, reaching to take it away from Minhyung before he lets his competitiveness get ahead of him and ruin whatever’s left of his relationship that was already troublesome enough to have to salvage.

Jaemin grabs a hold it first, laughing nefariously, “I’ve half the mind to pay for this just so _you’ll_ try it, Jun. How can you not believe it works, of _course_ it works! It’s magic!”

Renjun folds his arms across his chest, “Just because it worked on Jungwoo doesn’t mean it’s going to work on me, Jaemin, these things are just – ”

“Okay, fine,” Jaemin tucks the packet into his arms (along with three bottles of Formed Fortuity). “I’ll get it and you can take one of these whatever things and _then_ you’ll see that it really is an actual thing!”

“Why would I do that?” Renjun dismisses the idea immediately. “Don’t waste your money on something that doesn’t work, seriously, it’s – ”

“I’m buying it!” Jaemin dismisses Renjun’s dismissal.

“Doesn’t mean I’ll take it, Na!” Renjun argues, following Jaemin as he brushes past, intent on having Renjun change his mind about love potions.

“Why? You afraid it’ll _actually_ work, Huang?” Jaemin unceremoniously dumps the lot of his purchase onto the counter. Minhyung adds four more bottles of Formed Fortuity to the pile. Renjun zips his lips, letting the cashier ring up their suspicious sort of items, leaving the joke shop before he can alert any nearby Professors of it.

They start the trek back towards the castle.

“No,” Renjun tugs his cloak tighter around himself. Winter's still coming along strong at this time of the year, and Renjun’s prone to leaving his scarf in the Gryffindor Tower. It wasn’t his fault that Jaemin's always rushing him out of their room without giving the boy enough time to layer up. “It’s not going to work, and – ”

“Okay,” Jaemin snorts, picking the pink packet from his shopping bag and dangling inches by Renjun’s nose, making him go cross-eyed. “Just _try_ it then! Since you’re so sure!”

Whoever said Slytherins over Gryffindors were any more willing to do anything to win have surely never seen Renjun and Jaemin mid-argument.

“Fine!” Renjun believes with everything in him that it won’t work. Such things just _don’t_.

_But what if it does?_

Minhyung, thank the boy, “You shouldn’t take it if you don’t want to, Jun, it’s really – ”

“I’ll take it if you guys win the match against Slytherin,” Renjun doesn’t listen to Minhyung’s attempt at smoothening things out, focused instead on his tiff with Jaemin. “And if you guys lose, you’ll have to take it, Jaemin.”

“I’ll just make sure Jungwoo’s the one giving it to me,” Jaemin’s smile is pure evil, but it doesn’t quite reach his big eyes. “It won’t work if I’m already in love with him.”

Renjun refuses to back down, “Then we’ll think of something when it comes to it. But I’m only taking it if you win the match!”

Minhyung sighs loudly, puff of white air clouding around them, “It’s sad that you have such little faith in us, Jun.”

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in you,” Renjun laughs mirthlessly,

“I just have immense faith in Donghyuck.”

 

x

 

It’s after Ashwinder Eggs and Rose Thorns that Renjun thinks he might’ve messed up his brew of Amortentia.

Monday morning is too early in the week and too early in the day for a double Potions practical of such an advanced level, but Professor Jung is notoriously unsympathetic. Everyone has a small pot of brew coming along, and out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Jaemin at the next bench over dump in an unrefined amount of Peppermint Oil.

Renjun doesn’t tease Jaemin about it, even though he has a pretty good hunch that it’s something to do with Jungwoo’s peppermint scented body wash.

He stirs mindlessly, having deemed his neon purple brew as completely unsalvageable, watching his seat partner silently work his way through the practical instead.

No, it’s not _odd_ , staring as Jeno bites on his lower lip, crouching forward to squint at the instructions, pointer finger following as he reads the sentence over and over, meticulous. No, it’s nothing _special_ , noticing Jeno as he carefully counts the number of Rose Thorns required, whereas Renjun had grabbed a handful and chucked it into his cauldron. No, it’s not a big _deal_ , the way his heart jumps whenever he thinks Jeno’s about to look his way.

That’s odd. If he’s spent the last _week_ blatantly staring, why isn’t he now?

_Just, stop that._

Jeno’s not at all looking this way. Neither is he noticing how much Renjun _is_ , nor does he care, of course _not_. What could he possibly be thinking about this for? Hoping for? Wait, _no_. Renjun wasn’t hoping for anything, absolutely nothing at all! Renjun’s not _nervous_ , it’s completely normal that he can’t stand still, he was only eighteen, an active child.

_Yes, that’s exactly it!_

“ – that? Renjun?”

“Huh?” He says obtusely, letting his mouth hang open at the sound of his name leaving Jeno’s lips, _bless._

On account of trying to appear less like a bundle of nerves that’re about to go off in the next second, Renjun rest his hand on the table, only to misaim and slam his knuckles into the edge of it instead.

So much for not looking nervous.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Jeno takes a step closer, moving to take Renjun’s hand. His thumb traces the skin where it’d gotten a little pink, inspecting it closely.

Renjun thinks he’d very well walk into a wall if Jeno asked him to.

“Sorry, I just wanted to know if you were done with the Peppermint Oils?”

“Yes,” he starts, handing Jeno the vial that’d been clutched tight in his clammy hand, other still in Jeno’s grasp. He pulls it away numbly, “I’m fine.”

At that, Jeno offers him a warm smile, eyes and nose scrunching as he did, thanking Renjun softly and returning to his half of their workbench.

The noisy classroom of yelps and groans don’t make up for the silence between the pair. Though it isn’t as if they were every exceptionally chatty with one another, there was never such stringent silence. Renjun wallows in his thoughts, worrying his lip that he might’ve unintentionally scared Jeno off when he’d probed too much the previous lesson.

 _But he said it was cool_ , Renjun’s stirrer clanks against the bottom of the cauldron, startling him into deciding that it didn’t even _matter_ anyway. Was he expecting more?

What he was expecting, Renjun didn’t know it himself.

His brew of Amortentia gurgles loudly. Jaemin makes a snide comment about how it looks a lot like purple troll snot. Renjun ignores him.

Curious, he takes a whiff of the cauldron’s contents, nearly doubling over when all he smells is _vomit_.

“What, what?” Jaemin pokes him with the end of an unused stirrer, looking as equally confused as Renjun felt.

Renjun flails at the pungent air surrounding him, shoulders dropping when the air is clear enough for him to groan, “I think I ruined my brew.”

“Did you add Moonstone?” Jaemin takes a step towards Renjun’s cauldron, taking a big whiff of it. “What’re you talking about, it works fine?”

Renjun glances at the purple mixture (it’s supposed to be pearl white), then at Jaemin. Thoroughly befuddled, Renjun sniffs hesitantly, feeling bile roll up his throat when the smell of vomit hits him even harder this time, despite him knowing that it’d probably still smell horrible.

He gags, backing away from his cauldron and pulling his wand out to clear the mess. There’d be no point in having a ruined practical; Professor Jung’d only serve to criticise him more.

“What did you smell?” Renjun coughs, crouching forward to dig through his backpack for a candy. The smell of _vomit_ was so strong, Renjun could taste it on his tongue, oh god.

“Well, Jungwoo, obviously,” Jaemin leans against the table, tapping Renjun’s now empty cauldron. “And toothpaste. And peaches.”

“And that’s what you smelled in your own brew?” Renjun asks, unwrapping the candy and eating it quickly. He could taste the vomit at the back of his throat. Eugh.

Jaemin thinks about it for a second, then, “Yeah, pretty much. What did you smell?”

Renjun twitches at the idea that his Amortentia _really_ was supposed to smell like throw up. Gross. “I don’t know,” he lies, shaking his head. “It just smelled bad, in general.”

“Why don’t you try mine?” Jaemin offers, jerking his thumb towards his own work bench, Amortentia brewed nicely with white spirals of steam floating gently above it. “See if you smell the same thing?”

Conflicted, Renjun declines, to which Jaemin shrugs, hobbling back to his desk when Professor Jung inches closer. He gets chewed out by the Potions Master for getting rid of the brew before he had the chance to inspect it, but it was worth it; there was no need for the entire class to know his Amortentia was off busy smelling like a random pile of throw up.

Class is dismissed after Professor Jung brutally announces a list of students who were to work doubly hard on their brew (Renjun being one of them, no doubt). He’s bitterly shoving his books into the empty cauldron when Jaemin calls out that he’s off to meeting Jungwoo by one of the alcoves on the fourth floor, leaving him to his own devices. The bookbag on his shoulder is extraordinarily heavy, and the hand that comes down lightly on its strap is no help,

“Renjun?”

It’s Jeno. (Because who else could it be?)

Renjun turns, knees bumping against the table’s edges, and he tries not to flinch at the distance Jeno’s placed between the two of them.

It wasn’t much.

Close enough to make out the lone freckle by the bridge of Jeno’s nose. Close enough to make out a tiny dent in his lip that looks like it’s been worried over. Close enough to taste the tension on the tip of his tongue.

“What’s up?” Renjun’s toes curl at his attempts of playing it cool. Clearly, it wasn’t in his vocabulary. It’s the first time Jeno’s actually _talked_ to him since their last conversation that didn’t revolve around the making of Amortentia, and, really, what could he want?

Jeno fidgets with a fray on his sleeve, “I was, uh, wondering?”

When Jeno doesn’t continue, looking a little stuck, Renjun clears his throat, “What about?”

“Uh,” another burdensome pause. “Quidditch?”

Renjun coughs awkwardly. This entire situation is so painful, oh god, “Sorry, I don’t play, ah, Quidditch?” He scratches at his arm, “Jaemin and Minhyung’ll probably be better people to talk to, I mean – I don’t really know much about – ”

“Actually,”

Renjun clamps his lips together.

Jeno looks like he might throw up again, “I meant the match tomorrow.”

Right, the match that decided his fate with the love crystals.

Renjun hasn’t heard if Donghyuck was still adamant on serving his luck potion to the Slytherin team, but he knows Minhyung’s been pulling as many strings as he can to try and get into the Slytherin basement, though to no avail. He’d almost made it in after their trip to Hogsmeade, asking third year Zhong Chenle for that day’s password; only to have Donghyuck overheard and hex Minhyung with sodden robes from behind, leaving him constantly soaked to the bone.

The spell lasted until it was lifted on Monday night, and Renjun thinks Donghyuck might’ve taken pity on how Minhyung was sneezing and hacking away in the middle of the Great Hall.

“We’re playing Slytherin,” Renjun supplies unhelpfully.

“Yes,” Jeno smiles tightly.

Renjun doesn’t understand the discomfort – did Jeno want to speak with Minhyung, another Seeker, instead? Did he expect Renjun to know about Quidditch? Why –

A deep breath,

“Will you go to the match with me?”

Renjun is unimpressed. Was that it?

“Sure,” he shrugs nonchalantly. Then babbles, “Jaemin and Minhyung’ll be playing anyway, and I don’t know if Donghyuck’s going to want to sit with me, considering what’s been happening, but I’m pretty sure Jungwoo’s going to be there too, so we can all – ”

“No!” Jeno clasps his hands together and it’s so loud that Renjuns startles a foot into the air. “I mean – sorry, I mean, like – a date? Just you and I?”

Renjun’s mind stutters.

_A date? You? With me? Really?_

Renjun chokes back a horrified gasp when he realises that he’s said that aloud, and the look on Jeno’s face is anything but reassuring that it was the right response. He struggles to say something else when Jeno turns away, and embarrassed flush rising to his cheeks but nothing manages to come out because _seriously? Me?_

Is that what everything’s been about?

Renjun thinks his heart’s never thumped louder.

“Sorry,” Jeno shakes his head, an awkward smile on his lips. “Sorry, I just thought – it’s okay, I – I’ll see you around.” Again, “Sorry.”

Thankfully, Renjun’s not terribly slow on his feet, and he manages to catch hold of Jeno before he strays too far. Jeno’s cheeks are even _redder_ now. He parts his lips to rectify the situation, but nothing is leaving them, still completely stunned at the turn of events. His face is bathed in heat when Jeno frowns down at him, obviously wondering why he’s being kept behind by Renjun’s fingers locked around his wrist.

“Sorry,” is the first thing Renjun manages. It’s a lot of apologies exchanged between them, but Renjun takes what he can get, “I mean – I meant it in a good way.”

Jeno physically flinches, “What?”

Renjun gapes, “I mean, yes! I’ll go out with you!”

Jeno doesn’t look any much more convinced, but he doesn’t try to pull his hand away.

“I just – sorry, I didn’t know you were, uh, interested?” Renjun gulps. If anything, Renjun didn’t quite know he was interested either. The staring, the thinking, the wishing. Oh, the _pain_. “In me?”

The disbelief that crosses Jeno face would’ve been laughable if Renjun weren’t so distracted by the fact that he’s just been asked out.

Jeno fights back a smile, “You didn’t _know_?” Renjun shakes his head dully. “And Donghyuck’s been telling me that I’ve been too obvious…”

_Have you?_

“I wanted to ask you out earlier,” Jeno confesses quietly. Renjun doesn’t have the time to concern himself with the fact that Donghyuck was aware of Jeno’s… supposed feelings, his mind was positively reduced to mush. “But I, uh, didn’t know how to go about it after, y’know – ” Jeno winces, “I threw up all over you.”

It should’ve clicked somewhere, really.

“That’s understandable.” Renjun’s capability of stringing actual words together has never been so poor.

“So,” Jeno shakes Renjun’s hold off him smoothly, giving Renjun’s hand a squeeze. He feels it tight around his heart. “You’ll really go to the match with me? Tomorrow?”

Renjun nods speechlessly, watching with bright eyes as Jeno breaks into a million-watt smile. All happiness and good looks.

“Okay,” Jeno shifts his weight from one leg to the other. Renjun mirrors him. “Okay, I’ll come find you before? At breakfast?”

Renjun doesn’t know what compels him to ask, “You like me?”

Jeno stuns, eyes widening at the forwardness. Renjun doesn’t back down, relishing in the fact that, thankfully, they were the only ones left in the dungeons (sans Professor Jung at the far front of the classroom). It would’ve been hard to hear if there were a soul more, it would’ve been hard to hear Jeno mumble,

“Yes.” Then, “Do you?”

Five heartbeats and parted lips, “Kinda?” Jeno doesn’t react any badly, but Renjun once again feels the need to amend the glaring answer. Though, he doesn’t know if it does end up to his favour by adding, “I’ve never been asked out before.”

“Ever?”

“… Ever.”

If it were anyone else, Renjun would’ve feared ridicule and maybe indignation (after all, Renjun’d just answered _Kinda_ when Jeno’d given a resounding enough _Yes_ ), but maybe it’s the way Jeno’s looking down at him that so easily quells his doubt. It was the way Jeno stared, the way he made Renjun feel.

What was it?

It’s silent for a long while, and Renjun wants to laugh it off, say it was all just a joke, that he definitely got Jeno good. Of _course_ he’s been asked out before, and that he’s had a crush before, and he most definitely knows how it’s supposed to feel around someone he liked, of _course_ –

“I think it’s cute,” oh, Jeno’s smile, dear heavens. “I’d love to be your first date, Renjun.”

Renjun’s cheeks are so hot, the skin’s two degrees away from melting right off. Jeno excuses himself, saying that he’s set to meet Professor Park, Head of Ravenclaw House, over lunch to discuss his subject choices for his fifth year, and that he’ll be excited for tomorrow’s date. Just before he leaves though, Jeno hovers, and Renjun sucks in a breath when he envelopes Renjun in a one-armed hug.

Oh, wow.

It’s embarrassing, the way Renjun refuses to let the warmth go, not after having felt like this for the first time.

A hug that didn’t come from his parents nor his siblings, nor from Jaemin after scoring an Acceptable in Transfiguration, nor from Minhyung in search of comfort whenever he missed the Snitch, nor from Jungwoo when his tiny orchid plant had wilted and he’d spent a long time crying, nor from Donghyuck when he’d missed his family back home, seeking solace in Renjun’s kind arms.

This was… It wasn’t like any of those.

It was Jeno.

Instead of letting Jeno step back, Renjun circles his arms around Jeno’s lean waist, hugging tight for a good five breaths.

Into Jeno’s robes, he mumbles a shy, “See you tomorrow.”

And then he’s off, scurrying out the dungeons with the biggest smile he’s had in weeks.

 

Pleasantly, Donghyuck and Jungwoo are with them at the Gryffindor dinner table that night.

Renjun’s moral conscience is comforted when he sees Minhyung lean adoringly against Donghyuck’s shoulder. Despite the (faux) grimace, Donghyuck doesn’t push Minhyung off, letting his boyfriend rest his cheek there while he ate. There would be no need for Formed Fortuity during tomorrow’s game, and as much as Renjun trusted in Minhyung’s skills, Donghyuck’s potion meant a surefire win for Slytherin, and the consumption of The Crystal Chaser would be nullified.

Granted, Jaemin seemed to be fawning over Jungwoo much more than usual today to be reminding Renjun of their little bet, and he prays with everything in him that neither him nor Minhyung would remember it.

Fat chance of that,

Jaemin plunks the pink packet filled with love crystals in the middle of their dinner table, not caring that it was a product banned by Headmaster Lee (as are all love potions).

“Why do you have that?” Jungwoo frowns, seemingly recalling the time he was under the accidental influence of one himself.

“Don’t worry,” Jaemin laces his fingers with Jungwoo’s. With his free hand, he pushes the love crystals across the table and towards Renjun. “The only one having these are Renjun here.”

Donghyuck peers from behind Minhyung, eyeing the nauseating packaging as well, “Please tell me you idiots didn’t make a bet or something, because – ”

It’s as if Jaemin isn’t even listening, “We bet on the match tomorrow!”

Donghyuck sighs loudly, “I don’t even want to know.”

Jungwoo shakes his head in disapproval, then, “Speaking of, we’re all going together right?”

Renjun’s ears perk up.

“That reminds me,” Donghyuck nudges Minhyung off, who groans but complies. “Remember to hand me your scarf before the game.” He slaps a square of butter into a bread roll, grumbling, “I might really hex someone this time if I’ve to hear them complain about me ruining the red and gold streak with my green and silver.”

“You too,” Jungwoo reaches over Jaemin’s head to pat down a cowlick that’s been sticking out since Potions. “If we’re sitting in the stands with Renjun and the other Gryffindors, I don’t want to stick out again.”

“But that’ll just make it hard for me to spot you while I’m in the air,” Jaemin pouts.

Renjun near gags.

“You’re not coming over tonight?” Minhyung asks in a hushed whisper. Donghyuck glares at him, lips in a hard line that so emanates, _Don’t push it, Lee._

And with that, the conversation diverges; Jungwoo and Jaemin affectionately bantering over who should give in this time, Minhyung and Donghyuck discussing in low tones on how they were going to spend the night (apart, or together).

Renjun pokes at the leftover dinner, not wanting to eat anymore. Everything tastes so bland suddenly. He watches silently as Jungwoo wets a napkin with a bit of water, laughing at Jaemin as the strand of hair insistently remained standing; as Minhyung juts out a lower lip, batting his lashes up at Donghyuck.

He absent-mindedly wishes Jeno was there with him. Maybe then he could ask about which classes were Jeno’s favourite, when did he start playing Quidditch, where did he go to study during breaks (Renjun doesn’t recall seeing him in the Great Hall). Renjun picks up the pink packet, wondering over and over again if he’s ever wanted to know about someone this badly.

Without much else to do, he studies the Ravenclaw table, brows furrowing instinctively when he fails to find the blonde that’s to accompany him to the Quidditch match tomorrow.

_Right._

Renjun gnaws on his upper lip when he’s reminded that he was supposed to go with Jeno. Just the two of them. Alone. He didn’t intend on keeping it a secret, but what if Jeno wanted it to be a secret? Or what if Jaemin probed too much? Or what if Donghyuck wanted to talk about Renjun about dating Jeno? He’s known for a while, hasn’t he? That Jeno liked him? How was he supposed to even bring the name up at the table, there was no reason –

“Jeno?”

Renjun blinks. Was that him? That wasn’t his own voice, was it?

“What’s up?”

Ah, it was Donghyuck.

“Hey,” Jeno grins, charming and everything. “I just wanted to speak with Renjun for a bit.”

Renjun’s heartbeat picks its pace up. Jeno was here for _him_.

“What for?” Jaemin cocks a brow, twisting in his seat to look up at Jeno, suspicious.

“Our date tomorrow.”

Okay, so maybe secrecy wasn’t a thing Jeno was considering himself with.

Renjun drops the packet of love crystals so quickly that he doesn’t notice Jeno’s eyes following it. Clambering _over_ the Gryffindor table, Renjun’s mind goes blank. Minhyung makes a noise of flabbergast as the soles of his shoes bump into the plate of roast beef, but it doesn’t slow him down. Despite the initial shock that crosses his features, Jeno lifts his arms automatically, gripping Renjun securely as he scrambles off the table, knee knocking into Jaemin’s shoulder. Jeno blinks down at him, bewildered, but all Renjun can think of is how warm Jeno is.

It takes more than a moment for everyone to fully register that Renjun just literally climbed over their dinner to fall into Jeno’s arms, but no one gets a peep out of it because Renjun is dragging his date out of the Great Hall in that same second.

Renjun leads them down the corridor, only spinning on his heels when he’s sure that no one got up to follow them.

“What was that about?” Jeno laughs. His hand is still around Renjun’s, but he makes no move to release him.

“Nothing,” Renjun licks his lips nervously. “I just haven’t told any of them about going to the match with you tomorrow.” Before Jeno can say more, he bounces, “But I was going too! They were just… distracted. By, uh, each other.”

“I could see that,” Jeno says softly, stepping close. Renjun might’ve stopped breathing. “You looked a little lonely.”

Renjun chews on the insides of his cheeks, “You were looking at me?”

Jeno presses his thumb into Renjun’s palm, “I look at you a lot.”

Renjun stifles the yelp that creeps up his throat. Jeno grins, and he looks away, bashful, “W – what did you want to talk about?”

“Truthfully? Nothing,” Jeno’s grins seems to grow even wider. He takes a step closer, and Renjun doesn’t back away, feet completely stuck to the ground as if he were hexed. “Just wanted an excuse to come and talk to you. Did I take you away from something important?”

“No,” Renjun pauses. “I mean, if you count Jungwoo trying to groom Jaemin like a cat does her kitten, then, yeah, maybe.”

Jeno beams, mirthful, “Want to hang out tonight?”

“Where to?”

There are only so many places in the castle, and Renjun wasn’t about to head out onto castle grounds in the dark evening.

“My room?” Jeno explains when Renjun’s jaw drops, “I mean! Just a place to sit, and talk? My roommates are having a study group after dinner, so I thought…” He trails off, “Or the Common Room?”

Renjun pretends to back away, breaking into a smile when he sees Jeno’s face fall, “Shouldn’t you take me to Madam Puddifoot’s at least once before getting me up to your room?”

Jeno narrows his eyes, words spoken with a teasing lilt, “For someone who’s never had a first date, you seem to know a lot.”

“I said I never had a first date,” Renjun squints back, daringly tipping his face up to stare at Jeno brazenly, expecting the taller boy to recoil. “I never said I was going to be _easy_.”

Jeno stands his ground, and he leans forward boldly. Renjun’s resolve crumbles, and he stumbles back, blushing when Jeno catches him (again), “I never said you were easy.”

Oh, _god_ ,

“Just cute.”

 

Turns out the Ravenclaw Common Room is where Jeno spends his study breaks. Since it's equipped with a library just for the Ravenclaw students, there isn’t a need to visit the school’s library at all.

Renjun was hesitant about entering their Common Room at first, having never been in any other but the one belonging to Gryffindor, but Jeno was quick to assure him that many students from other houses did spend their evenings in the blue and bronze covered chamber. It was the perfect place to tutor others, and Jeno wouldn’t say much on whether or not they were allowed to charge fellow students for their tutoring services.

Scarlet, emerald and amber dot the wide study area, and Renjun takes on Jeno’s offer to head up to his room instead, wanting to avoid the mass of first years trying to bewitch mice into snuffboxes. Most of them were unsuccessful, resulting in a nest of half mice-half snuffboxes darting across the sapphire rugs.

The walk up is similar to the one in the Gryffindor, and Renjun finds himself standing in the middle of four poster beds, decked out in the Ravenclaw house colours. It’s a little surreal, how everything seemed to be in the same places, not seeing them in red and gold, but Jeno doesn’t take notice, ushering Renjun to the bed left of the door – his.

“I take the same bed too,” Renjun says, sinking into the mattress at Jeno’s encouragement. “I mean, back in my own dorm.”

“Is everything the same?” Jeno asks, glancing around the room. Renjun nods, from the desks by their bedsides to the trunks, it was identical. “I’ve only been to the Slytherin Dungeons a handful of times, and it’s much different down there.”

“To see Donghyuck?” Renjun picks at a fluff of lint on the blanket. Jeno takes a seat by the foot of his bed, leaning against one of the bedposts. He leaves ample space between them, and Renjun tries to subdue the flush that rises when he quietly wishes that he hadn’t.

“Yeah,” Jeno laughs. Renjun likes the way it sounds a little breathless. “He refuses to come over, even when he’s the one that needs the tutoring…”

From that, Jeno asks about their little friend group, about how they all met. Usually Renjun’d feel bothered with answering, having done so about his close friends to many others. Everyone's always curious about how Minhyung magically knew it was Donghyuck’s smell in Amortentia (he didn’t). Everyone's always gushing to Renjun about how sweet it was for Jaemin to pronounces his undying love for Jungwoo over the announcer’s microphone, and how Jungwoo must’ve been so pleased (he wasn’t).

But Renjun doesn’t mind sharing this time.

He doesn’t mind how attentive Jeno is with him, nodding at every pause, eyes only leaving Renjun’s whenever they drop to Renjun’s lips. He doesn’t mind how Jeno laughs at every detail, at every joke, and there are _plenty_ that’s sure to come whenever he hung out with the rambunctious group. He doesn’t mind how Jeno stretches over his bed after a good fifteen minutes of sitting up, smiling at Renjun to do the same, leaving both of them draped over Jeno’s bed horizontally.

Jeno, in turn, tells Renjun that he’s a little envious of his friends, that he’s never really had such close friends like Renjun, Jaemin and Minhyung were.

“They’re not all that great,” Renjun jokes. “I find myself the butt of their jokes plenty often.”

“Still,” Jeno’s breathing is steady. Renjun follows his pace without much thought. “I wish I could have friends like that.”

“Really?” Renjun is incredulous. Jeno was nice and funny and pretty darn good-looking.

“Just a little bit,” Jeno trains his eyes on the bed curtains. “I mean, it isn’t like I don’t have any friends, I do. But we never really have that kind of connection you guys seem to have.” Renjun waits for more, “I mean the Quidditch team is really close, but everyone pretty much has their own group now. I don’t know when I missed the deadline to join any of them.”

That last bit was intonated towards the cadence of a joke, but the words don’t escape Renjun.

He’s always had his friends by his side, no matter how often he loved to sulk about how they were all too busy with their love lives for him. Even if Minhyung was off with Donghyuck in the dungeons, Jaemin would be there to entertain him with the latest dinner table gossip. Even if Jaemin was off with Jungwoo in one of their many hiding spots, Minhyung would be there to help Renjun with whatever assignment he seemed to fall short in.

He was never truly alone. Not for long, at the very least.

Renjun rolls onto his side, resting his cheeks against his arm. Before answering, he studies Jeno’s features again; his lashes look even longer from this angle, and his ridges of his ears looked cute too. The bridge of his nose is ridiculously straight, and the curve of his jaw looks too smooth to be true. Jeno tilts his head towards Renjun at the sound of silence, and Renjun is reminded of his lack of response,

“You have me,” he says inarticulately. Jeno’s lips are so _pink_. How could someone’s lips be so pretty? “I’m your friend now too.”

Jeno cracks a smile, “You don’t really count.”

Renjun blubbers, affronted, “Why not?”

Jeno wiggles to mimic Renjun, tucking his palm under his cheek. His eyes flit across Renjun’s face, and it’s barely a whisper,

“I kinda want you to be more than just a friend.”

Is there a hotline Renjun could call? Because he isn’t sure how much longer his heart is going to keep beating.

Renjun swallows his nervous laughter, and he shuts his brain off, _lips, lips, lips!_

“‘Kinda’?”

Jeno hums, resting his hand between them, effectively cutting off the glorious view Renjun was so plainly admiring, “Just like how you _kinda_ like me.”

Renjun deliberates. A smart retort comes to mind, but in its place, “You must _really_ want me to be more than just a friend then.” He reaches out to place his right hand over Jeno’s left, and the other turns his palm upwards, tangling their fingers together.

“Yeah.” _Badump_. “Yeah, I do.”

 

x

 

Renjun doesn’t know why he’d thought nerves would allow him to evade Jaemin and Minhyung’s interrogation. It’s a sight to see, really, both Quidditch players all decked out in game gear, shovelling toast and porridge down their throats as they grill Renjun for more information. Jungwoo and Donghyuck are there too, wearing matching Gryffindor scarves and beanies, bundled up with woollen sweaters and having breakfast at half the speed their boyfriends are.

“He didn’t get back until after _midnight_ ,” Jaemin tattletales to Minhyung, who gasps in astonishment. Renjun’d never once broken curfew. He didn’t fancy the dark, but that didn’t matter; Jeno walked him back all the way to the Fat Lady’s portrait. “I waited up for him and he didn’t bother telling me anything!”

“For shame, Jun,” Minhyung waves a half-eaten piece of toast. “For shame!”

“Give it a rest you guys,” Jungwoo argues, bless the boy. “Shouldn’t you be worried about the match instead?”

“But it’s the first time Renjun’s got a date!” Jaemin whines, tugging on Jungwoo’s sleeve when the taller boy refuses to spare him a glance. “I can’t have my best friend go out with someone I haven’t properly vetted!”

“There is nothing _to_ vet, Na,” Jungwoo says flatly, reaching over the table to scoop Jaemin more porridge. “Renjun’s his own person, he can date whoever he wants without Mom – ” he jabs Jaemin’s shoulder, “ – and Dad – ” he jerks his chin at Minhyung, “ – hovering over him.”

“Why am I the Dad?” Minhyung frowns.

To which Donghyuck questions,

“Did you want to be the Mom?”

Over Minhyung’s grumble of _I want to be neither_ , Renjun opens his mouth to thank Jungwoo, that he’s totally right, but the shadow looming over his shoulder makes him bite on his tongue.

Sapphire lined robes.

“Hey,” Renjun staggers to his feet, holding onto Jeno’s shoulder. Purely for stabilisation’s sake.

“Hey,” Jeno calls back, giving him a toothy grin. His hair is tucked under a knitted cap, blonde peeking from under the edges. “Ready to go?”

Renjun breathes, “Yeah, let me just – ”

“Where’re you going, Jun?” Jaemin’s voice is glass to his skin sometimes.

“You’re terrible,” he hears Jungwoo chastise, and the tell-tale sound of a flick to the neck.

With gritted teeth, Renjun glowers at Jaemin as menacingly as he could to his best friend, “I’m going to watch the match with Jeno.”

Jaemin scrunches his nose, “Didn’t you say you were going to sit with Jungwoo and Hyuck?”

From the corner of his eye, he spots Donghyuck suppress a laugh. Renjun clicks his tongue, “ _No_ , I’m going to watch it with Jeno today.”

“Hmm,” Jaemin’s eyes twinkle in the way that Renjun’s learnt over the years to avoid ever receiving. “You’ve never watched a match with just anyone else before though?”

“Na Jaemin, I swear to _god_ – ”

“It’s okay,” Jeno interjects before Renjun can hex Jaemin with bubbling boils on those pretty little cheeks of his. “We can all go together.”

Renjun moves to find Jeno smiling down at him, “No, Jeno, it’s okay – ”

“Why don’t we _all_ go together?” Minhyung suggests, wiping the crumbs of his shirt. “We’ve got to be in the locker room soon anyway, and if you guys want good seats, you should be there a little earlier, yeah?”

It’s unclear whether or not Minhyung's doing it for his benefit but Jeno agrees amiably, taking Renjun’s hand in his as the rest of his pesky friends follow suit. Renjun holds onto Jeno tight, finding that the tension in his shoulders are considerably eased whenever he had Jeno’s palm to his.

They make their way through the halls, Renjun on Jeno’s right and Minhyung on Jeno’s left. They fall into a comfortable topic of Quidditch, and Renjun takes the chance to yank on Jaemin’s ear, earning a horrified howl from younger boy. Jeno rubs his thumb over Renjun’s knuckles, and he lets go of Jaemin.

“Why are you being persistently annoying about this!” Renjun hisses, low and ducked away enough for Jeno to miss it.

“I’m just being a good friend!” Jaemin argues in equal spirit. “Don’t be a pain in the ass!”

“Pain is my foot up _your_ ass,” Renjun snarls, raising a hand to tug on Jaemin’s ear once more. His intentions of saying more are interrupted by Minhyung’s jovial voice,

“Now that you’re dating Renjun, we can all hang out together! It’ll be like a giant group date!”

“They haven’t even had their _own_ date yet, babe,” comes Donghyuck’s ever reasoning voice.

“But we’ve waited so long for Renjun to find someone,” Minhyung sniffs noisily. They turn into a narrower corridor, and Renjun pulls Jeno closer to him so that they’ll fall behind, but he still leans forward, listening to Minhyung dutifully. Since when did Minhyung and Jaemin take on acting roles as his parents? “It’ll be fun if we could all hang out, we could form like a little group! Right, Jeno?”

“Sure,” he answers before Renjun can stop him. “I’d love to join you guys for a trip to Hogsmeade sometime?”

“Good,” Jaemin pipes up, expertly dodging the swipe Renjun takes to the back of his head. “Renjun’ll have something to do other than stare forlornly into his cup of tea.”

“ – okay, that’s enough,” Jungwoo says sternly, his kind smile morphs into a grimace as he pulls Jaemin away from the group, heads ducked low.

Minhyung and Donghyuck showcase their better standard of courtesy, quickening their pace to leave Jeno and Renjun trailing behind.

“Sorry,” Renjun says first. “About them. They’re just – ”

“Excited?” Jeno supplies helpfully. He swings their hands a little, and Renjun lets him.

He sighs tiredly, “Something like that.”

“I couldn’t quite believe you when you said you’d never been on a date,” Jeno muses, looking down at their feet, pausing in his step so that he could match with Renjun’s. “But this is a lot convincing.”

“They mean well,” Renjun isn’t sure if he’s trying to assure Jeno or himself. “I mean, at least I think they do.”

“I’m sure they do,” Jeno glances down at Renjun, and then away. “They’re nice.”

Renjun laughs, shaking his head, “Were we just speaking with the same people? I’d give them a solid _enthusiastic_ , but even _nice_ is pushing it a little.”

They turn into the hallway leading up to the Quidditch Gate just then, effectively ruining Renjun’s plans to once more apologise for his best friends’ antics. Everything was so _new_ with Jeno, he was afraid of scaring Jeno off like he once had about the boy’s Amortentia.

Jaemin and Minhyung bid farewell, leaving with good luck kisses from their respective boyfriends, and a cheer of good luck from Renjun. Donghyuck and Jungwoo resume their conversation on the care of Pygmy Puffs versus Muggle hamsters, showing the way up to the Quidditch stands. The warm confines of the castle is switched out for the blistering cold winds that winter brings, and Renjun immediately casts a Hot-Air Charm around them.

Jungwoo picks a spot by the centre of the Gryffindor stands, Donghyuck following behind closely. Jeno situates himself between Donghyuck and Renjun, resting their hands in his lap. At the shiver that rolls through Renjun, Jeno casts another charm between them, moving to hold Renjun’s hand in both of his, trying to warm him up.

“Are you okay?” Jeno leans forward to ask.

The sheer proximity between their faces causes Renjun’s motor sensors to short circuit, and he’s on the brink of closing the gap between them, seeking heat.

Instead, he nods, but a gust of cold wind makes him shudder again, and he presses himself against Jeno without much hesitation. There would’ve been a blush to his cheeks if it weren’t so _sickeningly_ cold, honestly. He would’ve layered on more if he weren’t so hell-bent on escaping Jaemin’s determined goal to talk his ear off this morning.

The stands fill out slowly, and no matter how quick he manages to keep his legs bopping, it fails to warm him up. The number of Hot-Air Charms he’s been muttering under his breath lasts shorter than the one before too, and it’s starting to take a toll on him, drawing such copious amounts of magic. He turns to hide his cheeks into Jeno’s shoulder, hoping that some of the warmth Jeno seemed to constantly emit would keep them from freezing.

At the sound of his sigh, Jeno shifts to pull his wand from his robe, unravelling the striped, grey and navy scarf from around his neck. Renjun watches on as he mumbles a Hot-Air Charm, and then immediately after, a Containment Charm. He tucks the wand back under his cloak, nudging Renjun off gently, just enough to loop the warm scarf snug around Renjun’s neck.

“A trick I learnt during Charms,” Jeno acknowledges Renjun’s confusion with a smile. “It should last longer than a normal Hot-Air Charm would.”

“Don’t you need your scarf?” Renjun’s voice is muffled by it. He didn’t actually want to return the scarf though; it's keeping his lips from falling off and the Hot-Air Charm really did seem to last, feeling a lot like a hot water pack pressed up against his frozen neck. It smelled good too – of gardenias and, more faintly, the sort of generic bath soap they had in the bathrooms.

Renjun wonders if his Amortentia could smell like _this_ , instead of –

The brightest lightbulb of lightbulbs,

 _Is he the reason my Amortentia smells like first grade throw up? Are you_ kidding _me?_

Whoever decided that the story of his first crush begins with a certain Ravenclaw throwing up over his robes and shoes clearly had no sense of romantic intelligence whatsoever.

Jeno breathes out a puff of white air, and Renjun can’t bear to maintain any sort of eye contact, “You look like you need it more than I do.”

Renjun knows he should probably offer to hand the scarf back once more, out of politeness, but it’s so comforting around his neck and collar that he can’t find it himself to do so. Also, the revelation has his mind a mess.

_How?_

As his own sort of apology (for taking the scarf, not for having an Amortentia brew that smelled like vomit), he takes Jeno’s hands, covering them with his own, ever so caressing them, as if they’d harden into ice if he didn’t. Renjun takes his spot by Jeno’s shoulder back too, hoping that the press of the warm scarf would help a little too.

His eyes close on reflex when he feels Jeno’s cheek on his crown, and they huddle together without exchanging much words. Renjun figures he’ll tell Jeno about it some other time.

 

The match goes on fairly smoothly. There are no unwarranted luck potions slipped to any of the players, and the announcing done by sixth year’s Boo Seungkwan is enough to keep the crowd enthralled. And, just as they’d hoped, Donghyuck and Jungwoo blend into the red and gold easily. Though, Jeno’s blue cap and the Ravenclaw scarf around Renjun’s neck are obviously out of place, but it didn’t matter to either of them, squished so tightly together.

Minhyung manages to catch the Golden Snitch just inches ahead of Chanwoo, and the game is called to an end with Gryffindor emerging as victors. Renjun cheers, and so do Jeno, Jungwoo, and Donghyuck, who gets to his feet, the widest smile on his face as he continues to cheer for a win that didn’t belong to his house. Minhyung swoops past the stands, Snitch still fluttering in his palm, and there’s a collective gasp from everyone surrounding them when he leans so far off his broom, pressing a gentle kiss to Donghyuck’s cheek.

Jaemin rolls his eyes from behind the triumphant Seeker, but no one misses the wink he sends to Jungwoo.

 

After pushing through the rest of the student body, Jungwoo and Donghyuck flit off in search of their boyfriends. Renjun and Jeno make their way down towards the towers, in favour of a fresh set of clothes before having dinner together.

The walk is quiet, but it’s comfortable. Renjun keeps close to Jeno despite being completely warmed up and not on the verge of suffering from frostbite, and Jeno does the same. He’s taken a habit to caress over the grooves of Renjun’s knuckles whenever they hold hands. Renjun thinks it’s endearing.

Just as the portrait of the Fat Lady comes into view, Renjun stops them in their tracks, moving to hand Jeno his scarf back. It’s long after the Hot-Air Charm’s worn off, but any reasons as to why he hadn’t returned the scarf earlier has been stuffed into the backlog.

“You can keep that,” Jeno grins, stilling Renjun’s hands to curl them loose over his shoulders. “I’ve a couple more others back in my dorm.”

Renjun blushes, at the words and at the sentiment. With a smirk, he wonders, “Is this the sort of thing couples do?”

“Kinda.” Jeno tugs on the ends of the scarf, looking expectant when he says next, “And I kinda want one of yours too.”

“Hmm,” Renjun taps on his chin, feigning a balloon of ego. “I’ll see what I can do about that.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Jeno says dryly, but he breaks into a smile when Renjun promises that he’ll hand Jeno a scarf of his over dinner. “So,” he mumbles, stepping aside when a group of seventh years brush by. “Any advice to surviving dinner with your friends?”

Renjun wants to laugh and say that they’re honestly all bark without bite, but the colour of sickening pink plagues his mind, and he groans at the thought.

The Crystal Chasers.

Jeno joining them for dinner would definitely warrant even _more_ jibes and jokes about his disbelief in love potions, and Renjun would rather eat his own fist than let Jeno go into it blind.

Jeno certainly didn’t look like he was expecting their first date to progress this way. His brows furrows together and his jaw turns slack when Renjun explains the current status of their ridiculous bet.

What Renjun doesn’t expect, is the sure statement that leaves Jeno’s lips,

“I have the antidote.”

Renjun would’ve believed if someone’d told him they were out on the Quidditch stands again, skin growing cold, “What?”

Jeno reaches to fiddle with the frays on his (now, Renjun’s) scarf, “I still have some leftovers from when your friend Jungwoo was under one… Donghyuck had me brew extras, and I think I might have a vial or two in my trunk. That is,” a pause, “If you want them.”

Renjun tries not to be affronted, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jeno eyes him closely, “Who’s going to be giving you the love potion?”

“I don’t know.” The shrug is noncommittal. “Aren’t you going to ask me _why_ I don’t believe in love potions?”

“That too, I guess,” Jeno wets his lips with a swipe of the tongue. There it is again. “I’d be a lot more concerned about that if my date hadn’t just told me that he was going to willingly accept a love potion from just anyone…”

The rest of the sentence, albeit silenced, is enough for Renjun to catch. Clearing his throat, Renjun moves to close his hand over Jeno’s, holding onto it adoringly, “I really doubt the love potion’s going to work – ”

“It’s – ”

“But,” he squeezes Jeno’s hand once. “Will you bring one of those antidotes with you later?” At Jeno’s reluctance, Renjun adds, “I wouldn’t want my date any upset over this… I – I had a great time today.”

The words coax a smile out of Jeno, “Even though you were freezing the entire time?”

It’s sweet, “Even though I was freezing the entire time.”

“Really?” Jeno asks, breathing heavily.

The smell of gardenias swirl around him, “Yeah, I’m kinda into you.”

Renjun doesn’t know if he’d pick Jeno’s cheeky smirk over his modest simper, “‘Kinda’?” He parts his lips, but closes them again, appearing to have nothing more to say.

“You’re hilarious,” Renjun deadpans, turning away to enter the Gryffindor Common Room. “I’ll see you in the Great Hall in a half hour?”

After making Renjun promise to bring another of his own scarves down for him, Jeno grants a nod, waiting until the portrait closes before moving from his spot. As he makes his way up the tower, Renjun shakes his head, trying to will the Jeno’s look of uncertainty off his mind.

If only he hadn’t made that stupid bet with Jaemin. He has half the mind to call it off, forget his _pride_ – who else was to blame? It was so very clearly Renjun’s own stubbornness that’d got him into this mess. Besides, how was he supposed to know Jeno was going to ask him out? That he had someone else to account for by making such a bet?

He elbows the door open with a sigh,

Speak of the devil.

Jaemin is already in their room, laying in his bed, hair wet from his supposed shower.

“How was your date?” His lips turn upwards, looking past his bed curtains to shoot Renjun a smug look. His Quidditch uniformed has been replaced with a comfy sweater and a pair of slacks. Was he waiting for Renjun? “Had plenty of fun with your Ravenclaw boy?”

“Shut up,” Renjun bristles, tugging Jeno’s scarf off, ignoring the way Jaemin’s brows shoot so far up into his hairline. “Congratulations on your win,” he sheds his robes ungracefully, leaving it to hang over the furnace that centred the room. He goes straight for it, “Where’s the love potion?”

Jaemin makes no move to answer, makes no move to reach into his trunk, where Renjun knew he kept The Crystal Chasers.

Instead, his best friend remains reclined against his fluff of pillows, voice light, “Sold them to Yeri. At half the original price too, that sneaky witch.”

Renjun’s mind lapses, “You what?”

Jaemin lifts his chin, visibly bothered.

“I wasn’t going to _let_ you take them, Jun, are you kidding me?” Jaemin scowls, as if he were offended that Renjun might actually think that way. To his credit, Renjun _did_ think that way. “You must be out of your mind if you think I was going to let you voluntarily take any sort of love potion!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Renjun doesn’t know what’s gotten into Jaemin. Hadn’t he been so pressed for Renjun to believe in them? “They’re not going to – ”

“Whatever,” Jaemin interjects swiftly. “I don’t care if you believe in them or not, you’re not taking any!” Renjun waits to let out a sigh of _relief_. Jaemin keeps at it, big eyes flashing under the fire-light, “Seriously, Jun, you’re spoiling today’s win.”

Renjun wants to argue that he’s thoroughly lost in this conversation, but Jaemin gives him no chance to even think up the right words.

The Beater grimaces, swinging his legs off the bed. “How’d you feel if Jeno took a love potion and made googly eyes at some other Ravenclaw boy? Or if he wanted to _kiss_ someone else because he’s so under the spell?”

_Kiss?_

Renjun curses inwardly when his gut wrenches.

Jaemin folds his arms across his chest, “I know you’re ridiculously persistent about this, but I’m not about to let my best friend do such a thing, relationship or not! Did you think I were sadistic or something?”

Renjun fails to conjure an answer.

“Anyway,” Jaemin sniffs, grabbing his cloak. “Prof. Hwang’s bringing the Quidditch team down to Three Broomsticks for a celebratory dinner, so go get that blonde boy of yours and be by the courtyard in fifteen.” He turns on his heels, and Renjun wants to say something but his throat is dry.

Jaemin pauses, looking over his shoulder, “This conversation is over. I don’t want to hear Hyuck, Min,  _or_ Jungwoo talk about how nice I am for cutting you this much slack.”

Typical of Jaemin to play things off.

Renjun’s stomach twists, and with nothing else to say, he settles with, “Thanks.”

“Won’t _work_ ,” Jaemin grumbles under his breath, crossing the room hastily. “Damn straight it’ll bloody work.”

“Really nice of you to ruin the moment, Na,” Renjun mutters back. Jaemin rolls his eyes before slamming the door shut, but not before giving him a nice enough look that could maybe be interpreted generously as a courteous smile.

With the little time he has left, Renjun steps into clean clothes, twirling the navy scarf around his neck and remembering to grab one of his scarlet ones as well.

Hurriedly, he rushes towards the Great Hall, feeling a certain stuffiness surge through his lungs when he spots a tall boy with blonde hair loitering by the entrance. Without thinking, he hooks his arms around Jeno’s neck from behind, crowing in delight when Jeno jumps at his touch.

Jeno squirms to turn around, and Renjun lets go just enough to have Jeno’s chest pressed to his,

“ – already?”

“Hmm?” Renjun’s eyes find their way down to Jeno’s lips. Plush. The smell of Jeno’s cloak is going to smother him.

“D – did you take the love potion?” Jeno stares him down cautiously, craning his neck away to look him properly in the eye.

“No,” Renjun steps back to give Jeno a little more space. “Jaemin let me off the hook, being the best friend he is, of course.”

It’s meant to be a joke, but Jeno looks preoccupied, searching Renjun’s eyes.

Silence, for just a second,

“Thank god,” Jeno huffs, opening his palm to reveal the clear vial of what seems to be the antidote. He lets out a nervous chuckle, stumbling over his words, “I – I didn’t know if it was alright of me to ask you _not_ to take it, considering we’ve only been – you know – but I wouldn’t know what to do – or – or _feel_ , if I saw you go after someone else, which sounds _so_ out of it, because you’d be on the love potion, and I have the antidote, and,” Jeno takes a deep breath, blinking rapidly, “And it would really help if you said something right about now because I don’t know what I’m doing or even – ”

Renjun presses his pointer finger to Jeno’s lips, relishing in how soft they are.

“… Renjun?” Jeno says warily, lips moving under his finger.

“Sorry,” he pulls his hand away. “It’s my first – I – uh, I didn’t think you’d mind it this much. I’m not enchanted, and I haven’t taken any love potion.”

Jeno’s exhales, and his shoulders sag – relief.

“I won’t be needing that,” Renjun reassures, motioning for him to tuck the antidote away. Jaemin’s words nag him relentless, _How would you feel if Jeno took a love potion?_

“I didn’t mean to worry you or anything, or have us start off on the wrong foot, love potion and all,” he says softly, feeling apologetic. Then, “I mean, you threw up all over me, so – ”

“About that,” Jeno swallows. Renjun halts his apology. “I wasn’t, uh, _actually_ sick.”

Confusion, more than anything, “You weren’t sick?”

“I took a Puking Pastille,” Jeno blurts out, embarrassment colouring his face.

Renjun balks, “What?”

It slips like the rush of a waterfall, “I hadn’t finished my History of Magic assignment and I was already two days late on it, and Professor Park was going to have me write an extra foot worth, so Donghyuck slipped me some leftovers of his Skiving Snackboxes, but I didn’t expect to run into _you_ , of all people, and I’m really sorry, and – ”

Renjun shushes him, absolutely floored, “Lee Jeno, are you seriously telling me that _P_ _uking Pastilles_ are the reason my Amortentia smelled like _vomit_?”

“I know, I know,” Jeno blubbers. “I just – I – wait, your what?”

“My Amortentia!” Renjun waves his hands between them. “It smelled like throw up! Because – I mean – ” he didn’t really expect to get to this point so quick, “It’s because you threw up all over me, isn’t it?”

Jeno puffs his cheeks out, “You think your Amortentia smells like me?”

Renjun is afraid to ask, just like he was days ago, “What did yours smell like?”

This time, though, Jeno answers him,

“It smelled like you.”

The smile that surfaces is so wide that it starts to hurt, but Renjun doesn’t care. Jeno’s smiling too.

His breaths come out in short breaks, and Renjun thinks there might not be enough oxygen flowing through his brain when Jeno breaches the slot Renjun’s left between them, turning his palms up for Renjun to take. So, he does.

“It smelled like your cloak… from when you caught me,” he reveals. “You understand why I couldn’t tell you then, right?” Renjun stifles a laugh, nodding, still stunned at the absurdity of it all. Jeno’s eyes train in onto his lips, and it tingles under his gaze.

“Is it okay… if I – ?”

Renjun knows a chance when he hears one, “Only if you don’t _taste_ like vomit too.”

Jeno brushes his nose with Renjun’s, speaking lowly, “Why don’t you kiss me and find out?”

“Very smooth,” Renjun retaliates weakly, listening to Jeno’s words and moving forward to press their lips together, and Renjun feels the rest of the world fall away. It’s soft and slow, just the warm, comfortable pressure, and Renjun grins when Jeno brings a hand up to cup his cheek.

“Renjun…” He whispers, as though savouring every moment. Their breaths mingle, and Renjun runs his fingers down Jeno’s back, resting on the small of his back, and pulling him closer until he feels the beat of Jeno’s heart on his own chest. Renjun kisses him again, short, and he grins into it.

Thankfully, Jeno tastes nor smells nothing like Renjun’s Amortentia, and he hopes that when Monday comes, it’ll be smelling a lot more like gardenias than the end results of the orange half of a Puking Pastille.

**Author's Note:**

> (i'm so sorry) and sorry to the anon from [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/jenhyung) who wanted a love potion au :( i couldn't get the words out, and it sounded far worse than this is, i'm sorry!!
> 
> kudos + comments / criticisms are greatly appreciated ♡ feedback warmly welcomed! [twitter](https://twitter.com/jenhyungs) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/jenhyung) | [more notes](https://jenhyung.tumblr.com)


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